Weeknight Mapo Tofu With Ground Pork Recipes

Steps:

• Put oil in a deep 10-inch skillet or wok, preferably nonstick, and turn heat to medium-high. A minute later, add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes, and cook just until they begin to sizzle, less than a minute. Add pork, and stir to break it up; cook, stirring occasionally, until it loses most of its pink color.
• Add scallions and stir; add stock. Cook for a minute or so, scraping bottom of pan with a wooden spoon if necessary to loosen any stuck bits of meat, then add tofu. Cook, stirring once or twice, until tofu is heated through, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the soy sauce; taste, and add salt and red pepper flakes as necessary. Garnish with cilantro if you like, and serve.

Steps:

• Grind peppercorns in grinder and set aside.
• Cut tofu into 3/4-inch cubes and pat dry.
• Heat wok over high heat until it begins to smoke, then pour oil down side and swirl to coat bottom and side. Stir-fry pork until no longer pink. Add bean sauce, black beans, and chile powder and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in stock, soy sauce, sugar, tofu, and a pinch of salt. Simmer, gently stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir together cornstarch and water until smooth.
• Stir cornstarch mixture into stir-fry and simmer, gently stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Stir in scallions and simmer 1 minute. Serve sprinkled with Sichuan pepper.
• **Serve with:**perfect steamed rice